[meteorite-list] Cutting stones on small saws - for newbies. (Collective wisdom of the List)

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 22:39:23 -0400
Message-ID: <e51421550905211939v11356236j5702e6301fb464bc_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Listees!

I want to thank everyone who replied to my request for information
about my new lapidary saw and how to use it. I received many helpful
replies offlist and I think these emails probably saved me much trial
and error - not to mention a few blades and fingers. Since my main
interest is cutting small stones, most of the replies centered around
stones and not irons.

I thought it might be helpful to other cutting-newbies on the list to
read some of the hints and tips I received. I replied to everyone who
wrote me (that took a while) and new replies are still flowing in, so
if I learn more tips, I will add them to this post later.

First, here are some links to Jim Tobin's articles on Meteorite Times
magazine online. Jim's articles contain a lot of helpful information
and some novel ideas I might not have thought of - like dopping
specimens to a mandrel for cutting, instead of using a clamp or vice.
Thanks to Rob Lenssen for pointing these out to me.

http://www.meteorite-times.com/Back_Links/2004/January/Jims_Fragments.htm
http://www.meteorite-times.com/Back_Links/2008/march/Jims_Fragments.htm

Saw Tips for Noobs -

1) do not use alcohol as a coolant. It is flammable and risky. Some
people said that diluted isopropyl alcohol is acceptable. But for the
most part, everyone said to avoid alcohol.

2) distilled water or filtered water (to remove chlorine and
contaminants) seems to be most used coolant. Of course, this
necessitates drying the cut specimens afterwards - some use silica
gel, some use an alcohol bath followed by a stint in a hot oven to
purge remaining moisture.

3) don't feed to hard or too quick - it will damage the blade. Listen
to the saw and learn what it's sound feedback means - the noise the
saw is making will tell you alot about what's going on while cutting.

4) Use brass shims (or something similar) to cover the gap between the
blade and the saw table - this will prevent thin slices from slipping
off the blade into the coolant tank through the gap. (only necessary
when cutting thin slices)

5) wear safety goggles - bits fly off and can put out an eye. It will
also keep water/coolant from being slung into your eyes.

6) Make sure you and your saw are grounded. Water and electricity
don't play well together, and the body/table of most lapidary saws are
metal, which is conductive. It's a good idea to put some sort of
shield over the exposed part of the saw motor - not to smother it, but
to deflect spray that might end up getting inside the guts.

7) Save your crumbs and cutting dust - waste not want not.

8) Never cut dry and if you must, wear a mask or respirator -
silicosis is an ugly thing.

9) Watch your fingers - a lapidary saw with a high-RPM diamond blade
is not your daddy's tablesaw. Touching the flat of the saw blade
while spinning can rip off flesh - so it's not just the cutting edge
you have to watch for.

10) Plan your cuts to minimize waste - keep successive cuts as
parallel as possible to previous cuts to avoid making wedges.

11) When slicing specimens in half or making endcuts - hold both sides
of the specimens and move them away during the final moment of the cut
- to avoid breakage and leaving behind telltale ugly marks of such.

12) Start slowly on uneven surfaces - blades, especially thin ones,
have a tendency to travel along the contour of the surface to be cut.
This usually happens right at first when the blade first makes contact
- if not careful, you can end up with a slanted cut and a wedge.

13) If you are cutting smoothly and then suddenly you hit a nodule of
metal or some other resistance, slow down - heed the feedback the saw
is giving.

14) Don't be overly cautious and slow with cutting - doing so will
leave telltale saw marks on the sliced specimens from the side of the
blade abrading the cut surface. Learn and maintain a steady proper
cutting rate, based on feedback and specimen type - this will develop
with experience.

That's about it for now.

I will share more as I learn it. :)

Best regards and happy cutting,

MikeG
Received on Thu 21 May 2009 10:39:23 PM PDT